As Israel intensifies its operations in the Gaza Strip, two of the most significant Christian leaders have declared their priests and nuns will not leave their congregations in Gaza City. 

In churches and church compounds nuns and clergy continue to care for vulnerable people with disabilities, and shelter those made homeless by the Israeli bombing.

The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzabella and Theophilos III, have described the forced relocation of the city’s residents as akin to a “death sentence”. 

Professor BENJAMIN ISAKHAN of Deakin University researches the plight of religious minorities in the region.

GUEST:

Benjamin Isakhan is Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Alfred Deakin Institute and Professor of International Politics in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University